It might be alright, but my concern would be that with all of that overhang, you'd be putting more force then necessary on the boat. Having it suspended in some way to cushion forces seems like it would be best. It's hard to see the benefit, until you actually see it in action. Each bump that you hit will be a firm and direct force on the boat, which means that all of that overhang is leveraging on one bar 15 inches from the centre of the boat. The system that I use, cushions that leverage so that a bumps are smoothed out and the boat rides smoother. A smoother riding boat is a boat that has less up and down forces on it.

Also, are you using bow and stern lines? I wouldn't take a 16 foot boat on the bars 30 inches apart without a bow and stern line, and the system that I use allows for those lines to put very little pressure on the boat, while still being snug. Without any give in the system, you run the risk of placing more force then necessary on the bow and stern of the boat.

It might work for you, but it's not something that I had considered trying because I can see how well the system that I use works.

This is why I went with the Slipstream 887XT..... Single person loading and unloading and you spread the load out from 30-32 inch crossbars to more than 60 inches on nice pivoting cradles. This allows for alot less stress on the 16 foot Hull and You get top quality straps and ratcheting bow and stern lines included with the rack. I brought mine home on foam blocks on 32 crossbars but never again.

Yes, I'm using bow and stern lines (not hanked down hard). My concern with the Slipstream and cushions etc is that it requires the AI to sit 'upright' on the roof, and from what others have been telling me here is that the AI is really better designed to ride upside down on its gunnels....just like it's better to store it upside down. Would there not be more chance for hull distortion when riding upright with side, bow and stern straps doing their thing? Just trying to figure out the lesser of the two evils here Thanks

True they do recommend that as the Gunnels and crossbars are the strongest part of the hull...... But I could not see any way of roof racking solo upside down....... I took one look at those aka crossbars could only see huge scratches and dents or worse in the roof of a Brand new SUV. I think the bottom of the Hull should be strong enough to ride in cradles.

I went through the same thought process... wondering if the boat is ok right side up. These boats aren't as fragile as some would have you believe, but that being said, don't get the smallest cradles that you can. The Mako saddles grab a large portion of the hull, and are strapped in a way that hugs the entire surround of the boat, instead of pushing all of the pressure onto small contact patches on the bar. Think of it like getting a big hug, if you bear hug someone the force is evenly spread all around the other person, now if you took that same amount of force and put it on two, two inch spots on someones body, it would HURT.

The biggest risk with strapping the boat down right side up on bars is that where the bar crosses, the hull, it will deform where that bar makes contact (when you strap it down with the appropriate tension) The mako saddles place equal pressure all the way around the boat, and then still allow it to ride cushioned. There's a lot of science to how they work. In Element Al's picture, those saddles don't allow the cushioned ride, but the forces are limited by spreading the weight to about 60 inches.

I researched the options for quite a while before I took any risks, and for me, Element Al's solution was a bit problematic because it added a little bit of extra weight on the roof, and at times I take our AI (with Ama's on top of the kayak) and a Revolution beside the AI, all on top of my Civic. That's a LOT of weight up there. If I had all the cash in the world, and wanted to do things perfectly, I'd buy Element Al's slipstream, and mount the Mako Saddles on top of that. It's the best of both worlds.

So there are options, but the biggest thing to remember is that you want to either spread the forces on as much of the boat as possible, or you want to mount those forces onto the gunnels. When the boat rides right side up in my system, I can tighten the straps as tight as possible and there's no way that I could deform the boat. Hugging that boat isn't going to deform it... pushing it down hard onto a bar will deform it.

I hope that helps. You might have to see the options in person, I would direct you to a good kayak shop, but a lot of those guys don't worry about it because none of the good kayakers paddle rotomolded boats, and they all think that rotomolded boats are cheap kayaks, so they don't worry about them the same way us AI owners do.

Thanks for all of your responses. This is just confirming my thoughts that carrying an AI on the roof of a vehicle is no simple afair. I'm placing my AI order today and will be picking it up next week. I'm considering bringing it the 20 miles home upside down on the on the thule bars I have now. This allow me to assess the situation but there will be no solo trips until I have a "get on the roof solo" option.Augaug, do you think that mako supports 30" apart with fore and aft straps would be ok?Pete.

Which shows a TI being carried on roof racks fitted with the Hobie trailer cradles. I posted a comment and they said the setup worked well and was easy to load. They apparently have 2 cross bars fitted with the Hobie cradles, and a rear hitch-mount bar with rollers for loading.

Augaug, do you think that mako supports 30" apart with fore and aft straps would be ok?Pete.

I think that anytime you're dealing with bars that are 30 inches apart, you've got a less then ideal circumstance. However, I do think that the Mako saddles, and a bow and stern line fitted relatively loosely works quite well.

I have pictures and a more detailed description in this post here:http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=28959&hilit=ai+reviewIf you look near the bottom of that post, I talk about how I transport the boat. The picture shows the ama's on top of the boat, and the sail below (and between the saddles) That set up just allows me to take our second boat on the roof. If I'm travelling with just the AI, then I put the Ama's on either side of the boat to lower the centre of gravity and increase aerodynamics.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I do want to say that not everybody feels that my system is perfect, and they're right. But given the 30 inch separation, I have yet to find a better solution. Long term, I plan on building a custom trailer to take two boats, two bikes, and camping gear.